Glojo:
I hope you are right but I dread to think of the work involved in ripping apart an operational ship to install this equipment
Well it's been done before. Think of VICTORIOUS coming out of a 6 year refit in 1955, aged 15 years, 30ft longer, with steam catapults, and an angled deck so large that they had to demolish a building beside the dry dock at the last moment before they could float her out.
And ARK ROYAL (IV), in 1969 with a new waist catapult instead of the starboard forward cat and direct acting arrestor gear, completely redesigning the hangar deck-head. It's surprising what you can do to an old hull.
Lovely discussion, chaps, keep it up.
An old badger (of a sort)